You're Never Too Old for a Fort
by thelastcity
Summary: Originally posted here for sheafrotherdon's cuddling/blanket fort comment fest.  Steve/Danny, pre-slash


**Title:** You're Never Too Old for a Fort  
><strong>Author:<strong> _thelostcity/thelastcity  
><strong>Fandom:<strong> H50  
><strong>Genre:<strong> Pre-slash  
><strong>Characters:<strong> Steve, Danny  
><strong>Pairing:<strong> Steve/Danny  
><strong>Categories:<strong> fluff, cuddling  
><strong>Rating:<strong> PG  
><strong>Warning<strong>: none  
><strong>Spoilers:<strong> none  
><strong>Disclaimer:<strong> These characters belong to FOX, CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended.  
><strong>Author's notes:<strong> Originally posted for sheafrotherdon's cuddling/blanket fort comment fest.

He's just settled in with his book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Grace left it, swear to God it's not his), and his lamp when he hears his front door open and footsteps that aren't anyone's but Danny's.

"Steve?"

He freezes. But then he remembers where he is and the fact that Danny won't find him. He leans deeper into the pillows, puffs the blankets up around him and goes back to Harry, Ron, and Hermione in Diagon Alley while keeping one ear on the footsteps walking around the first floor of his house.

It's not that Steve's hiding from Danny, exactly; it's just, he'd wanted a nap and his bed felt kind of big and lonely. He'd lain down anyway until he remembered that Gracie'd built a fort the last time she was over, and that he'd never taken it down. So he figured he might as well test its construction, see if maybe Gracie had a future in engineering. There hadn't been enough padding for him to lay back and check the ceiling, so he had to bring in a few extra blankets and comforters. But then the walls started collapsing a little, so he'd had to line them with pillows. After that he discovered the book and, remembering how much he'd heard about them, decided to just take a few minutes to check it out.

So, basically, Danny's wandering around Steve's house, muttering to himself about "Where the hell is that asshole? His truck's here and the lana'i door is closed" while Steve is sitting comfortably (not snuggling, SEALs don't snuggle) in a pile of blankets and pillows reading a book. It's a pretty good morning.

-

Three hours later, Danny is back at Steve's house. He finally just went to the office and triangulated the moron's cellphone GPS, which naturally said he was at his house. Which he wasn't. Danny knows, because he spent half an hour searching for the goof, which was not how he wanted to spend his Saturday morning, okay? He was bored and he wanted to hang out. Not play an impromptu game of hide-and-go-seek, which he was terrible at to begin with, with a Navy SEAL who probably knew how to make himself more invisible than air. Or something. Christ.

So he's back and searching the house more thoroughly, because apparently this is how he's going to spend his Saturday. Looking for his idiot partner at said idiot partner's house, where there are not all that many places to hide. After inspecting the first floor, checking under every piece of furniture because you never know, and looking in each nook and cranny, half of which wouldn't fit Grace, but whatever, he makes his way up the stairs.

Guest Room #1 (Mary's room) is empty, Guest Bathroom is empty, Guest Room #2 (Steve's old room) is empty save for the fort Gracie built last week, Steve's Bathroom is empty, and Steve's Room is empty and his bed is missing its comforter. And pillows. Which is weird.

It's the missing comforter and pillows that make Danny pause, because they weren't in the laundry room and Grace didn't use them to make her fort. Which is still in existence, two weeks after being built, when Danny knows for a fact that Steve has been home almost every night during that time.

With an air of trepidation, because this is kind of crazy, Danny goes back into Guest Room #2 and stares at the fort. He's not sure if he wants Steve to be in there or not; Steve's 35 and a SuperSEAL, blanket and pillow forts don't really fit in that image. As he's staring, he hears a sigh and one of the walls shakes.

Steve is in the fort.

Slowly, gently, Danny lifts the flap and peers in. Steve is indeed inside the fort, burrowed into and under and on top of a giant pile of pillows and blankets fast asleep.

Conscious of his proximity to Steve's legs and what happens when Steve's startled awake, he whispers loudly.

"Steve."

Nothing happens.

"Steve," he calls a little louder, which gets him a twitch.

Third time's the charm, "Steve." Danny gets a small whimper in return.

"Of course. Of course you're not going to wake up. And of course I have to climb in here after you. You don't leave a lotta room, you know that, right? Could you please take up some more space? Please? I'd like that. Geez, oof."

Danny just manages to make it inside the fort without falling on top of Steve, who miraculously doesn't wake up at all, if you don't count intelligible grumbling, which Danny doesn't. Landing on his own part of the pile, which is extremely soft and comfortable, go Steve!, he sees that not only was Steve all cuddled up in the fort, he was also reading Harry Potter.

"Babe, you are, you are, adorable is really the only word for it." Danny reaches out and smooths the hair off of Steve's forehead. Which is apparently "Steve" for "Time to roll over onto the person who has just joined me in this exercise of what-the-fuckery."

"Steve," Danny pokes him. "iSteve/i." Nothing. He sighs, and picks up the book figuring he might as well catch up to where Gracie is in the series.

-

Steve wakes feeling warm and safe and comfortable, surrounded by softness and rumbling. He rubs his face into his pillow, which smells fabulous, and makes the rumbling increase. Something rubs down his back and he slits his eyes open. Blinking, he finally makes sense of what's in front of him: a hand, not his own, holding a book and an expanse of t-shirt, also not his own. That's when his hearing kicks in and he realizes that the rumbling is italking/i, and that his pillow is iDanny/i.

"You awake now, babe?"

Steve doesn't move. He's plastered pretty tightly against Danny's side, using him as a body pillow.

"I'll take that as a yes," Danny chuckles. "How far did you get?" he gestures to the book.

"They were, uh," God, he sounds like he swallowed gravel, "eating sundaes in Diagon Alley."

"You woke up at the right time, then. We're just past that part."

"Oh." He clears his throat awkwardly just as Danny starts reading aloud. Which it sounds like he was doing before.

As he reads about the Hogwarts Express, Steve slowly relaxes, realizing that Danny doesn't seem to mind being his pillow. Drifting in and out of awareness, Steve dares to wrap his arm around Danny's middle at one point and is rewarded with Danny's hand running up and down his back.

Eventually, five minutes or maybe five hours later, Danny stops reading and starts nudging.

"What, Danno?" Steve doesn't whine. He does not.

"Dinnertime, Steven. It's time for dinner."

Steve curls more into Danny, "I'm comfortable. 'Sides, not hungry." Which is the moment his stomach starts to growl.

"Right, you're not hungry. Tell me, did you even eat lunch?"

Steve stays stubbornly wrapped around his partner, and ignores the question.

"I'll take that as a no." Danny puts the book down and hugs Steve, "Come on, babe, we can come back up here later. I promise."

Sighing, Steve loosens his hold and then yelps when Danny flips him unexpectedly, one hand on Steve's shoulder and the other next to his head.

"I realize that you are an octopus, and that you think I'm your teddy bear, but even octopi need to eat."

"Octopi?" It's kind of strange, staring up into Danny's face.

Danny leans lower for a moment, "Plural of octopus," before pulling back again, but not otherwise moving from where he's hovering over Steve.

They stay like that for a moment, until Danny leans in again, closer this time, and Steve's both surprised and not. Apparently there was some part of him that knew this was going to happen. The rest of him, however, had no idea it was even on the table.

The kiss is over too soon, but also not soon enough. Steve's feeling off-balance, like he never wants to let go of this moment, afraid of what will happen when he does. He pulls Danny down into a hug instead, not really sure what he's trying to convey.

Danny kisses him again. "I got you, Steve. Hey, I got you." He lets Steve hold him for a while more, before pulling back, "Seriously, babe. Food now, cuddling later," and only smiles and kisses Steve's forehead when he blushes at having been caught out.


End file.
